Aal iz well

Yesterday, I finally managed to catch a glimpse of the newspaper my housemates brought back. Old newspapers are always going missing in my unit. The cleaner takes it away whenever she comes to clear our waste baskets, depriving me of the yesterday's news and whoever that is having her period, a pad wrapper. And that's bad news for me because I hardly, if ever, read a newspaper on that same day. I'm always reading newspaper a day late. -.-"

Anyway, the headline of the day was concerning the recent earthquake in Christchurch, NZ. At the latter part of the newspaper was a caricature of a rabbit trembling with a quote saying "It wasn't me". The caption wrote (more or less): Rabbit year - political unrest, floods and earthquakes.

See how near the water is to the shore

Sure enough, nature's face is changing.

The sea has been polluted by BP's oil spill last year, the air has long been pumped with pollutants since the Industrial Revolution, the polar ice caps are melting and lately, even the faces of human institutions are changing.

Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, volcanic eruptions and people revolutions have all happened and taken lives. Sooner or later, global warming may not be our deepest fear.

Effects of global warming - retardedness

So maybe the Malthusian theory of population is right.

Another piece of article that caught my attention yesterday was one on the analysis of food growth. The author stated that by 2020, a large proportion of the world's population will face starvation due to the scarcity of food caused by the scarcity of land and erratic weather changes.

So much for our Vision 2020.

Today, another article wrote on the price inflation of foods in Malaysia due to sugar price hike. Not to be too concern about the price or even the changes in supply because I live in the city and have a monthly support just enough for a frugal living, it paints a larger picture that food is really, actually becoming scarcer.

There have been so many movies made about the apocalypse. Looking at the issues focused in the papers, it's either the world drowns first or we return to square one of civilisation where we have literally fight for food.

Mayhaps we start looking for a ship captain for insurance just in case the former happens, like in 2012.

And if the latter happens, we should probably start learning how to build a campfire and set up tents, that is, if tents are still attainable.

By the time the world reaches the brink of survival, houses and basic luxuries like refrigerator, fan, bed and oh, computers, would have to be utterly insignificant as we fight each other for food and water.

In which case, I suggest we should also learn wrestling.


We can of course, learn gardening and plant food in our own backyard but hah, who's gonna stop the thieves? You can't hide an entire garden so the incentives for actually planting something will be so little that no one will do it at all.

But if, and only if, there is a chance for a whole new civilisation to be built from scratch, like the scenario camp motivators like to give for team building - who are you going to bring to populate a new planet sort of questions - I just really wonder what lawyers are going to do.

Humour people with our big mouths?

Argue our way for food as though people care what you say when everyone is starving?



Quite frankly I think jobs like lawyers have little function in an undeveloped world. We can't provide for the people with food and veges, we can't build shelter, we can't sew clothing and we can't cure people from gashes and illnesses. Heck, we can't even be trusted! =.="

Of the three basic needs for human survival, I can give and produce none.

Leave me alone in a jungle for survival and unless I have a primal instinct inherited from my fellow cavemen and cavewomen ancestors, I shall barely survive.

The most I can probably do is produce a guitar and serenade traumatised and tired people to sleep at night.


Or maybe if things get really bad, try to perform euthanasia.

But I don't think I could ever get a night of peaceful rest rest after that even if someone else picks up a guitar and serenades me to sleep.



The truth is, even though I don't often think about the end of the world, I quite fear the reality that is happening at the other end of this Earth.

I fear not so much about dying but only the thought that if I stop thinking about disasters and other misfortunes, I subject myself to a state of oblivion and complacency that cuts me from the harsher realities.

I think, nah, earthquakes ain't gonna hit my home and my unit's tiled floor exploded at midnight.

I think, nah, global warming ain't gonna hurt in this generation and my dad's office had a fire.

I think, nah, floods... nah. And three cities in Queensland where Bol is headed to gets almost submerged.

So maybe things didn't really happen to me. But nevertheless, I think I need some kind of "heart preparation" if disasters were to happen *touch wood!!* in places where those I care are living in.


I wish the noodles of longevity really plays a part in affecting one's lifespan.

Did I mention my family was almost involved in the 2004 tsunami in Penang Island?

We were planning a vacation to Penang over Christmas (Tsunami was Boxing Day!) and by God's grace, my brother had the government summoning him for NS so we stayed back and waited for the official letter just in case he was to be in first batch.

And so, I don't really have a conclusion for such a blog post. But what I'm really going to do, hopefully by pure sincerity, is to clasp my hands together every morning and thank God for yet another day to live (with my basic needs intact).


And hopefully, some of the world's most beautiful scenes, like seeing the sunset will always be there to be shared with friends and remind us that Aal Iz Well.